Homeschooling. Marcus Aurelius 1.4

Living in proximity to multiple generations of a large and complex family gave Marcus some good insight that we occasionally miss in our smaller, more dispersed households. You can listen to me read his next lesson <here>.     

Παρὰ τοῦ προπάππου τὸ μὴ εἰς δημοσίας διατριβὰς φοιτῆσαι καὶ τὸ ἀγαθοῖς διδασκάλοις κατ’ οἶκον χρήσασθαι καὶ τὸ γνῶναι ὅτι εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα δεῖ ἐκτενῶς ἀναλίσκειν.

From my great-grandfather (†) I learned to avoid public lectures and make good use of teachers at home, instead. I also learned to recognize that it is necessary to take study seriously.

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(†) Lucius Catilius Severus Julianus Claudius Reginus. The long name suggests that our man was adopted into at least one family besides his natal one; this was not unusual among noble Romans. He was Marcus' great-grandfather by marriage: he wed Dasumia Polla, whose second husband, Gnaeus Domitius Tullus, had in familiar Roman fashion adopted his niece as his daughter. This niece was Domitia Lucilla Maior, the mother of Domitia Lucilla Minor, who taught her son Marcus simplicity and piety (as we have already seen!). Lucius Catilius' natal family appears to hail from Apamea, in Syria, on the banks of the Orontes river. He rose from there to a long and lustrious career, serving in many different offices under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian, including governorships in Cappadocia, Africa, and Syria. An experienced, well-travelled, well-cultured man, by all accounts, quite capable of showing young Marcus the way to study.